


You're My Only Cure

by PersonifiedWeirdness



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-06-26 09:48:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19765681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PersonifiedWeirdness/pseuds/PersonifiedWeirdness
Summary: Shuichi Saihara never really thought much about soulmatesUntil his life depended on it.





	1. Complicated Situations

Soulmates were a peculiar thing in this world.

It was only about 20 years since the whole concept popped out of nowhere to begin with. But when it did, it seemed like the world just clicked in understanding of what it meant. The “Soulmate’s Touch” or simply, “soulmark”, a colored mark on the body of when two people deemed as soulmates touch.

And the world was mostly happy with it. All soulmates started as partners in a romantic sense back in the day, and sprouted a strict belief that soulmates should be that way. That they should be a couple, and they cannot have a relationship with anyone else until they meet their soulmate. They fit each other perfectly, right? So why bother falling for other people?

No, Shuichi Saihara thought.

He’s always disagreed with the whole mentality of avoiding romance until you meet your soulmate. Ever since he was young, he always thought that it was stupid for people to be scared fall in love just because they aren’t perfect for each other. Perhaps it was because of his parents, or at least the tales of his parents brought by his uncle. After all, Shuichi would not have existed had they not also believed in his ideal. Or perhaps the idea of not knowing how to maintain a relationship and then immediately diving into one once you meet your soulmate seemed dumb to him.

Either way, Shuichi thought how it worked was bullshit.

It did spark quite the time for him throughout school. He was shunned for his beliefs by his peers, whether it’d be whispers in the halls or dirty looks. But he wasn’t bothered much by it.

On the subject of soulmates as a whole, Shuichi was rather iffy about. Not that he disliked them per se, it was just that he felt… indifferent about them. He would have had the same opinion as everyone else, in that while it had its ups and downs it was a great thing in the world, had it not been for one thing in his life, but he’d prefer to leave that for now.

Other than that, Shuichi had never bothered looking for his soulmate.

Until his life depended on it.

-

“So what you’re saying is,” desperation started seeping in, “That I will… die in roughly two months, Tsumiki-san?”   


The nursed sighed, “Y-Yes, sadly.” It took a few minutes of silence for those two words of confirmation sink in Shuichi’s mind. He was going to die. After passing a year of his expectancy, he’d finally die.

“Y-You know,” Mikan stuttered, bringing Shuichi back to reality, “I… I know I-I have no r-ri-right to te-tell you to do anything, but…” she meekly made eye contact with the other, “You… can still g-get surg-gery.”

“It’s okay, Tsumiki-san,” he leaned back from his chair and sighed, “I know I can. It’s just… you know the consequences if I get surgery. At this point I’m way too infected by the disease and then I can’t… love anymore. And if I can’t love,” he tossed his look to the side regretfully, “Then… I’m scared my soulmate will suffer the same fate.”

“…” Mikan looked at the floor, “Y-You have people to live for… don’t y-you?” The question was met with a chuckle, “Yeah, I do. They’re back at the shop.. They’re like my family.”

“Then which will you choose, your family or your soulmate?”

The stuttering was gone in a snap, lifting Shuichi’s head to his nurse. Mikan had a passive, yet stabbing stare. It was hollow and empty and dark. But she blinked, and gone. Shuichi shook his head, maybe it was his mind playing tricks, “I… I-”

“A-Ah, I’m sorry! I d-didn’t mean to…”

“No, it’s okay.”

Silence filled the air once again. As if his disease didn’t make him suffocate enough, the air in the room just felt like pressing Shuichi from all sides. The reality that he’d die was hard to accept for him. When he started with the disease, it was painful enough that he’d long for death, but now… he has a reason to live.

“S-Saihara-kun,” said Mikan abruptly, “You… You still h-have a chance of living. You and I b-both know this..”

“I know, I know,” Shuichi sighed, feeling his throat becoming hoarse, “Find my soulmate and fall in love. It’s just that…” he paused, and looked at his hand, “Do you think I have a soulmate…?”

“W-Well, I…” Mikan gathered herself and answered honestly, “I-I think you’re a wonderful p-person. I-If such a clumsy pig like me c-can get a soulmate, I-I’m sure you can too. Love is n-no picky chooser.”

“…” He looked out the window. The bright sun outside shining on the vibrant leaves made it seem like a pleasant day. Too bad he can’t smell the fresh air anymore. He finally let out a raspy chuckle, “Ironic, huh? Love is the one that caused all of this, yet it is the thing that can heal me.”

“… I s-suppose…”

He got up from his chair and brushed himself off, “Well, thank you very much Tsumiki-san. You’ve helped me with this for a really long time now.”

“O-Of course! It’s o-only my job as a nu-nurse.” She went up to open the door, “Don’t forget t-to take your medicine. It’ll h-help with the episodes…”

“I know. Thanks again!”

The door closed behind Shuichi with a click, leaving him with his own thoughts. He knew he’d have to tell the others. Though knowing him he’d do it at his deathbed.

Before he could think any longer, he felt his lungs burning. Quite the familiar feeling. Rushing up to the bathroom, he doubled over the sink. He could feel it come closer. His throat was extremely dry, though small tastes of blood were felt.

And finally, it came.

_ Fucking flowers… _

In the blink of an eye, the sink was filled with flowers. Beautiful ones, but they were covered with his blood. Each day he can feel these exact flowers filling his lungs to no end until he suffocates from them. Most people would call it inhumane to cough up flowers, or even just petals. But he knew what this was.

Hanahaki.

Hanahaki was a disease that most have forgotten. After all, in a world with assigned partners by an unknown force, who has time for unrequited love? And so the studies of the disease were buried in who knows where right now. The only reason he had a vague idea of what it was is because he dug deep in the internet for days on end. He only knew fully what it can do when he saw that Super High School Level Nurse Mikan Tsumiki knew about all diseases throughout history. So that’s how he got his medication, even if he had to ride a train across Japan.

Usually the life expectancy for a victim of Hanahaki is 1-2 years depending on certain elements. Although… let’s say Shuichi has been both lucky and unlucky and has managed to make that to 3 years.

He looked at the pile of flowers and blood on the sink. Ripping some toilet paper, he wrapped the flowers and threw it in the trash can, while he washed the blood off of the sink.

_ I can… deal with that later. I have to come back to the shop. _

-

Taking a seat in the train, Shuichi finally had time by himself in his mind.

_ I wonder if I can find my soulmate in the matter of a couple of months… Seems unlikely, but who knows. _

He sighs slowly and leaned back.

_ I remember I used to crave for death because of this… Although it was extremely severe at the time.  
_

_ My body couldn’t handle it and just wanted to… end it all. But now… _

_ I have something to live for. And it… sorta scares me in a way now. _

_ All I have to do is find my soulmate. But I’m anxious about that as well. What if I’m too late? _

He felt a shuffle on his left, but he paid no attention

_ … What if my soulmate doesn’t love m- _

Suddenly, he felt a weight on his left shoulder. Holding back on flinching, he snapped his head to his side.

To his surprise, he saw a petite male leaning against his shoulder. It was clear that he was sleep deprived by the bags under his eyes. And while half of his hair in pressed between his head and Shuichi’s shoulder, it was… weirdly springy. Like one of those weird tentacle plants, but purple with… highlights, apparently. This completely snapped Shuichi out of his train of thoughts and threw that train down to Panic Pit.

_ Oh god oh god oh god… what do I do?! I don’t know where his destination is..! And this ride will be like 15 minutes!! Oh what do I DO.? _

_ … _

_ He… looks kinda cute- wait no. Now’s not the time for your bi, Shuichi. _

He glanced at the clock,

_ I guess I’ll wait until I get off… There’s nothing I can do about it now.  _ He sighed,  _ This is going to be a long ride.. _

And so time flew by faster than he thought. His shoulder was aching a bit, but he felt used to it. After all, he’d feel guilty to wake up the guy. Just as his station was coming close, he felt something in his throat.

_ Oh god, not now… _

Hu cupped his hands as hard as he can and coughed up in it. Actually, it was more like he tried to throw up the flowers. He didn’t want to risk his shaking to wake up the stranger next to him. It was filthy, he knew. But there was nothing he could do now as he felt his palm brushing the petals and dripping with blood.

“Next stop: Tochigi Station. Exits are at the right side.”

_ Thank god… _

He turned to the stranger, then reluctantly tapped on his head, “Um… Hello? I’m really sorry, but can you please wake up..? This is… my stop.”

He stirred, “Hnn…?” He lifted himself up from Shuichi’s shoulder weakly, definitely still half-asleep, “…Wha..?”

Not being able to take it any longer, he bolted out of his seat with a squeaky “Sorry!” and got off the train. Heading to the bathroom to deal with his problem, he started feeling his shoulder burning.

_ Oh wow.. Apparently my shoulder was aching quite a lot… Oof, it hurts. _

Massaging his shoulder, he went on to his next train, “Well, I hope I didn’t bother whoever was sleeping on it…” he muttered to himself, “And I hope he doesn’t remember me….”


	2. News and Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Would Shuichi consider himself lucky or unlucky? He truly didn't know.

Shuichi Saihara finally reached home. Or at least, what he considered was his home. On top of the door were big letters saying “Hanakotoba Flower Shop” and tiny letters below it, “Meaningful flowers for your loved ones”.

Yes, he owned a flower shop. Was it because of his Hanahaki? Well, mostly. His aunt already was already a florist before he got it. He just offered to open up his own shop. After all with his flower disease, he knew a lot more about flower language, which actually played a role in Hanahaki.

But now’s not a time for lessons about his deadly disease. He pushed open the glass door, the bell above it emitting a ring, “I’m back!” he called out.

“Sai-chan! Can you help me over here?” he heard a voice call from the back. “Coming!” he replied, and walked over there.

Behind the door, he saw a girl with pink pigtails bended over one of the potted flowers, “Yeah, Kotoko?”

The girl, Kotoko, stood up with hands on her hips, “Can you put these at the front?” she pointed at a pile of bouquets, “The vases are already outside, and the boys don’t wanna help me.”

Seeing her lips morph into a pout, Shuichi smiled and patted her head, “Yep. And don’t worry,” he picked up the bouquets, some of the flowers smacking his face, “I’ll smack ‘em on the head later for not helping you open up.”

As he went to the door, he saw Kotoko smirk, “Thank you!”

Stepping outside and basking in the sun once again, Shuichi began putting the new flowers in the vases. Kotoko and what they called “the Warriors of Hope” helped him with running the shop since he suggested it as a joke. And honestly, they’ve been like family to him. It wasn’t much that pulled them together, too. It all started when Shuichi just decided to befriend them all when he was at his daycare at age 12. But that was a story for another time.

Putting the last flower in the vase, he brushed his hands off and went back into the building. And he decided to bring the boys out to help.

_ Knowing Masaru, he probably forced Nagisa and Jataro to train with him. _

And right he was. When he stepped upstairs, he heard whining and groans from the boys’ room. Sighing himself, he opened the door.

“COME ON, SOLDIERS. YOU’VE ONLY DONE 2 AND A HALF PUSH-UPS!” A redhead yelled, blowing his whistle like a referee.

“But Masa-kuuun! I prefer to use my muscles for painting!”

“NONSENSE, JATARO! YOU AND NAGI’S FIGURES ARE WAY TOO FRAIL! YOU NEED TO TOUGHEN UP LIKE A MAN!”

“D-Daimon-kun,” the blue haired panted, “I-I’m not.. used to… exercising..!” His arms gave up and just dropped his body to the floor. Finally, he spotted Shuichi leaning against the door, “H-Hey, look,” he pointed weakly at the door, “Shui-kun is here… I think he wants us to.. help open up t-the shop…”

Sighing in complete disappointment, Shuichi stood up straight, “Yeah. Yeah I do. But first, Kemuri, Etsu, go take a shower. This room reeks of your puberty sweat.”

“But Sai-kun!” Masaru folded his arms, “They have to exercise! They can’t just keep sitting on their chairs studying or painting!”

“I know, I know,” he watched the other two flee from the scene, “But uhhh, not now..? And I don’t think you should give ‘em heavy stuff right away.”

“But-"

“Here, how ‘bout this. If you have to get your training boner released, I’ll train with you. The two can help Kotoko downstairs.”

“Fine then,” he huffed, “And it’s not a training boner!”

“Sure, sure,” he grabbed a tank top and changed to it, “Well, let’s go.”

And so, train they did. Shuichi was surprisingly good with things like these. Not that he was  _ that _ muscular or strong, but probably strong enough to lift a weight of 99 kilograms no problem. But in terms of sports, Masaru had the advantage. He is the Ultimate Athlete after all.

“5 more to go Saihara! Come on, timer’s running out!”

“R-Right..!”

And with one more pushup left, the timer went off. Shuichi let out a groan, his body now dripping in sweat.

“I’d say you’re doing pretty good. Last time you did 100 you didn’t have a time limit, and so I’d say it’s progress.” He took a plastic bottle from the desk and threw it to the other, “We’re done, so drink up! You have to stay hydrated!”

“Yeah, okay,” the water was down in a flash, and Shuichi got up, “I’m going to go take a shower. The two has to be done right now… And you too.”

“Mhm!” While the older went to grab a towel, he noticed something strange, “Hey, Sai-kun, can you please come here for a bit?”

“Yeah, what is it?” he approached the redhead, confusion written all over. With no warning, Masaru gripped Shuichi’s left shoulder, “Huh? What are you-“

But once he turned his head, he finally saw what he was looking at.

A mixed colored mark was blended on the skin. The infamous… soulmark.

No words were said between the two. They were too struck with realization to say anything.

Finally, Shuichi broke the silence, “Huh.”

Masaru looked at him bewilderedly, “Huh? You finally got a soulmate and what you say is ‘huh’?!”

“Well- What am I supposed to say??”

“I- Oh, nevermind. Who's your soulmate?”

“Umm,” he looked back at the soulmark, “I actually don’t know.”

One blink. Two. “So, you don’t know who your soulmate is?”

“… Yes.”

Masaru sighed, “Well then, we’ll have to tell the others.”

“Of course…”

-

After he finished his shower and got dressed, he was surprised to see no customers downstairs. Better yet, the sign on the door, by the looks of it, was still on “closed”. He couldn’t see any of the others in the front, so he figured they were at the back. And they were.

But the sight that greeted was unusual to say the least. When he entered the room, all 4 of the other were facing the door, as if they expected him to come in. Which was not that hard to understand, but it was their neutral faces that tipped him off.

“Umm, guys?” he called out. But none of them responded. All they did was turn to Masaru robotically, who was standing on one of the tables. Shuichi tilted his head.

“Guys, I have an announcement to make.” He exclaimed, face and tone completely flat, “Shuichi Saihara, our beloved big brother of this group, is finally gonna get some ass.”

And with that sentence, the neutral faces of all of them broke, “Wait, what?” asked Nagisa, face contorting into bewilderness.

“Ohh wow, Shuichi’s finally going ‘ta stop being a virgin?”

“Jataro, that’s impolite!”

“It’s true though, Ko!”

“Hold on hold on hold on!” Nagisa shouted, earning the attention of everyone, “Just… what do you mean by that, Masaru?”

Shuichi sighed, “I’ll answer.” He folded his arms while staring down at the small athlete, “What he means is… I have a soulmate now.”

He could feel his heartbeat loudly through his chest. A minute passed. And slowly became two.

“… Huh.” The three answered in unison.

“Is that all you have to say?!”

“SEE! Now you get the feeling.”


	3. Someone Like Me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two sides of our story meet.

Of course, the end of that conversation wasn’t just at a small “huh”.

“Well, now that’s out of the way,” Nagisa said, “Who’s your soulmate?”

Just as Shuichi himself opened his mouth, Masaru answered, “He doesn’t know.”

“… What?”

“He doesn’t know who his soulmate is. I’m assuming he got his mark while in the middle of a crowded place or something when he was out today.”

The male in question sighed, “Yeah, that’s what happened. I didn’t see any mark when I got up this morning.”

“Hmm…” Nagisa hummed, going into a thinking position, “Well, cases of unknown soulmates aren’t an uncommon thing. The situation of suddenly getting a soulmark in a crowded place and not knowing who it was are the case in about 36% of soulmate cases-“

“Yeah, yeah, shaddup Wikipedia. We’re not here for statistics, what matters is finding Shu-nii’s soulmate!”

“Wha- I’m not-!”

“So, so, so!” Kotoko hopped from her spot and skedaddled to where Shuichi was, “Do you have any idea on where and who?” Despite her bright smile, Shuichi turned the whole thing down, “It’s alright Koto-chan. You don’t need to help me with this. Neither do the rest of you. You’ve got school and besides,” his face dropped completely, “you’ve never really interfered with my love life and I’d prefer to keep it that way.”

Everyone fell silent.

“So with that clear, gotta go y’all!” Stepping out of the room, it was clear Shuichi wanted to get out from all that. But the rest didn’t want to press any further.

Just as he stepped out of the room and closed the door, he let his composure drop instantly. It was all too much to take in. First he was told he would die unless he found his soulmate, and right after, his soulmark appeared. Whether it’s good luck or bad luck, he wouldn’t know for sure. He was unsure what to think of the whole situation, really.

_Why me…_

He could feel his mind breaking bit by bit and all he was given to fix it was some scotch tape. He wanted to fall to his knees and cry, but he couldn’t. Not here at least.

_I could maybe go to my usual spot…_

-

“Meeting over!”

With a flick of a cape, the small figure disappeared, leaving the rest of the nine members around the table before they dispersed. One of them, a girl with shoulder length hair, left the room with slow steps. She could feel her throat feeling itch and aching. She somewhat knew what was coming, but still didn’t know what it was.

_I can just go… outside or something._

Stepping out of the building she made her way to a place. Nearby the park there was a forest, and inside that forest was an abandoned school. While the wildlife that covered it was a mess, the atmosphere and air was just therapeutic. It could calm her nerves down in seconds.

With a flash, she arrived on the rooftop of the building. Vines and wild plants littered the place, but it provided with fresh air. The trees above also served as a wonderful shelter from the sun. It felt warm, but still cool. Nature truly was a beautiful thing.

Suddenly, she felt it coming. Something was forcing its way through her throat. Her throat ached more, as if claws were ripping it. She opened her mouth, and choked on the object, then coughing it up.

Bloody petals.

What the fuck were they? She did not know. It was inhuman for someone to cough up plants. Where did they come from? What caused it? She had many questions, but she couldn’t find anything anywhere. And at this point, she started to panic, but she still refused to tell her… Family. She was scared to tell them.

She looked at the petals covered with blood dully as it was blown away by the wind.

_Ugh, what if this is a deadly thing? What if it’s just a weird thing? Had I secretly been injected with some science experiments and became a superhuman?!_

With those thoughts filling her head, she didn’t realize a figure coming up the stairs and slowly to her. “Umm, excuse me?” the figure called out. Only then she turned around to see a male with dark blue hair.

“My my, hello! I didn’t expect my secret scientist spy came to hunt me down.” She grinned. That answer shifted the expression of the male into confusion, “Uhm… sorry, no. I wanted to ask you something..”

“Oh, oh! Are you my secret admirer and decided to confess your love to me?”

“Wh- No no no! I-“

“Well then, tell me your name then!”

He opened his mouth, then shut it, then opened it again, “Erm, Shuichi. What about you…?”

“Hmhmhm! You can call me Fumiyo!”

“Ah, erm,” he stuttered out, “Well, nice to meet you, then.,.”

Fumiyo looked at the male for a long time while Shuichi made an awkward atmosphere. Which he cursed himself for. The silence went for quite the time before Shuichi asked a question.

“Say, this may be a weird question but…” Shuichi dropped his voice, “Are… Are you, by chance, coughing up flowers? Or, petals in general?”

Fumiyo turned silent and dropped her face, before picking up a grin, “My, why did you ask such an impossible and illogical question?”

She expected silence, but he gave her an answer, “Well, when I was walking up to the school through the side I caught some bloody petals. One, none of the plants here could make that specific flower’s petal. And two, it was bloody. And what was the chance of that?” He glanced to the side and shifted his position, “Besides, I know some things about the disease. You’re going through unrequited love, right?”

Now Fumiyo was stunned. What could this stranger know more than digging research in Google? But she had to know, “… Tell me about the disease.”

“Well, I don’t remember the exact definition, but it’s a disease that can appear if one goes through unrequited love. The symptoms are: coughing up petals, and gradually flowers, throat feeling clogged, not being able to distinguish any smell, and more. But, if you want more specific details about this,” he pulled out his phone and typed something, then showing the screen to her. On the screen was a blog called “hanahacking-info”, “There’s a blog that answers questions about the disease in detail, so I suggest you check it out. And don’t worry, the runner of the blog learns it from personal experience and expert doctors.”

Fumiyo remembered the name and nodded. “Oh, and also,” he pulled something out of his pocket, and out came a small bottle of pills, “Here are the medicine. Though you may need to go to the doctor to learn more about your case in particular, because certain things like how you think of each other now affect your life expectancy. Though the medicine should help with that.”

She looked at the bottle and paused, the proceeded to take it hesitantly after Shuichi insisted to. “Hey, since you have the medicine, does that mean-“

Before she was finished, he cut her off by pulling out a card, “Here, my phone number if you need any help or anything. Just text me and we can meet up here.”

“I…” she hesitantly took it, “Alright. But you have th-“

“I’m sorry, I have to go. It was nice meeting you-!” he hurried his way to the stairs.

_He’s clearly trying to escape!_

“Hey- Hold on! You have the disease too ri-“

And one last time, she was cut off with the door closing, leaving her with herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am... very sorry for not updating when I said I would or anything...... Life has been hard. But hope you enjoy!

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you guys enjoy this!! This is a concept I've thought about for quite some while, and I'll be excited to write this!!


End file.
